Disposed ‘dead’ baby found alive
In a shocking incident, premature twins were allegedly declared dead by an upscale private hospital here and were handed in a polythene bag to their parents who realised that one of them was alive only when they were on way to perform the last rites.
‘‘They handed us both bodies wrapped like a courier packet from the back door. After we travelled three km, we felt a movement in one (bag). We ripped it open, found bits of plastic and the baby inside, breathing," said Kailash, the baby's grandfather. The family rushed to another hospital and was told that the baby boy was alive. He is on ventilator now at the same hospital.
The twins were born on Thursday morning to a woman at Max Hospital. She was admitted there on November 28 and was referred by a private nursing home, as a premature delivery was expected. The doctors had told the family that the expecting mother was serious and the chances of survival of the twins were slim, as she was six months pregnant. Varsha gave birth to a boy and a girl but the family was informed that the twins were stillborn.
The Max Hospital in a statement said, "It has been brought to our attention that a premature (22 weeks) new born baby, who was reported to be on life support at a nursing home, was unfortunately handed over, as it had no sign of life.
"This baby was one of the twins delivered on November 30 morning. The other baby was stillborn. We are shaken and concerned at this rare incident," the statement added.
The statement said a detailed enquiry had been initiated, pending which, the concerned doctor was asked to proceed on leave and they were in constant touch with the parents and are providing all the needed support.
The staggering botch-up has been reported at a time another private hospital is being investigated for overcharging the parents of a seven-year-old girl who died of dengue. Union Health Minister JP Nadda called it "heart breaking" while Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted that he had ordered an inquiry and "strongest action" would be taken.